Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Can We Do Better When Students Are A Threat To Self? A Review Of Legal And Policy Implications For Current Practices On College Campuses, Jennifer Ann Hemingway

Theses and Dissertations

Many colleges/universities believe that a student who is a threat to self increases campus risk and liability (Appelbaum, 2006; Massie, 2008; Pavela, 2006 & 2010). This study uses integrated policy analysis to (1) define the policy problem regarding college students who are a threat to self; (2) analyze the current legal opinion of the courts regarding institutional liability when college students are a threat to self; (3) examine the 2010 change to the direct threat provision in Title II legislation; (4) determine the implications for institutional policies and practices. The analysis illustrates, according to the courts and changes in Title …

Testing The Global Ratings Of Environments [Groe] In South Africa, Melissa Aives

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The author retested an observational tool called the Global Ratings of Environments. The tool was used in nearly six early childhood development (ECD) centers across two provinces. A detailed report of observations and findings are included in this paper. Also included are recommendations and revisions of the GROE for future use.

Cross-Cultural Bridges : Closing The Gaps In Direct Services With Immigrant And Diverse Populations, Lucy Chen

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The shifting cultural, racial, ethnic, and linguistic makeup of the United States is expected to become more diverse in the coming decades. This has important implications for direct service professionals, including social workers and educators. An overview of culturally sensitive, responsive, and competent practices is provided for work with immigrant and diverse populations to assist professionals in the process of crossing cultural bridges, overcoming privilege, and building bridges.

Quality Of Early Childhood Development Services Across Contexts : Experience With The Sithuthukile Trust, South Africa, Rachel Warren

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The purpose of this paper is to understand how the quality of early childhood development (ECD) programs is determined within two different contexts: western and South African.

Incorporating Democratic Pedagogy Into A Traditional Classroom And The University Experience: Benefitting The Community And Country, Phillip Pearson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This paper focuses on the importance of civic engagement in higher education and democratic pedagogy, in order to help students become active citizens, who know their rights as well as responsibilities, which ultimately benefits both the community and this nation. In addition, it also looks at a set of skills, called 21^st century skills, which are necessary for students to excel in the modern professional world, and which coincide with being an active citizen. This paper first looks into leading scholars’ views on the civic engagement in higher education, the current situation, and what the future holds. This paper …

Torch (May 2015), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College, Western Kentucky University

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Green Chemistry As A Tool For Understanding The Toxic Substances Control Act: A Lecture Module For Undergraduate Students, Molly R. Blessing

Honors Scholar Theses

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is the central form of chemical regulation existent in the United States today, yet scientists are often unaware or uncertain of its provisions. Violations of TSCA by unknowing chemists set industry and government unnecessarily at odds. A lecture on TSCA was developed for undergraduate students that uses the concept of green chemistry to promote interest and incentivize learning. Green chemistry methods are cleaner and less wasteful than traditional chemical ones, and many companies using them are at the forefront of technological innovation. The lecture explains both green chemistry and TSCA, includes company case studies, …

Parent–Teacher Relationships Across Community Types, Amanda L. Witte

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Children with social-behavioral problems are at high risk for developing long-term, pervasive adjustment problems. Home–school relationships may be critical to alleviating the negative effects of behavior problems and to fostering student success. The environment or community in which homes and schools are situated represents an important influence on the home–school relationship. Despite the evidence supporting positive parent–teacher relationships and the association between community context and educational practices and student outcomes, little is known about the relation between community context and parent–teacher relationships. The manner in which cumulative risk factors and child behavior problems influence the link between community type and …

A Study Of Life Skills From Traditional And Afterschool 4-H Participants, Julia M. Kreikemeier

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cooperative Extension has been serving youth and their families for over one hundred years. The total impact of this service has been measured on several occasions by many researchers, most notably in the research of youth development by Richard Learner; however, his research only took into account those who participated in traditional 4-H clubs. The purpose of this quantitative study was designed to examine which life skills youth participants in traditional and afterschool 4-H programs reported. Quantitative methodology was used to collect post-program survey data of youth participants. Qualitative informal interviews were conducted of Extension Educators and afterschool 4-H program …

Mothers Who Choose Traditional Public Education In Times Of Economic Stress, Criticism, And District Reform, Brian W. Davis

Dissertations

As districts attempt to achieve higher accountability for student results while making complex decisions to balance budgets, it has become increasingly more common to restructure or reorganize educational delivery systems in ways that affect children and their families. Understanding how families and, in particular, mothers translate their experiences with structural and other changes enacted by the schools serving their children can assist in defining a new strategic direction of renewal, growth, and revitalization.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of 18 mothers, and their children, who were participants in multiple school reform initiatives in an …

A National Study Of Alternatively And Traditionally Certified Teachers, John F. Hoye

Dissertations

The alternative teacher certification policy has been firmly in place for more than a decade, but there have been conflicting reports on its effects. I conducted the study to investigate whether the policy has materialized its promise. I compared the characteristics of alternatively certified (AC) and traditionally certified (TC) teachers by analyzing data from a nationally representative sample of public school teachers (N = 27,810). The sample was constructed from the Schools and Staffing Survey 2007-08, a national survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. I investigated what teacher characteristics (such as age, gender, ethnicity, total years of …

Using Dynamic Lndicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels) Oral Reading Fluency Data To Predict Michigan Educational Assessment Program Outcomes, Lisa Lockman

Dissertations

Schools are under legislative pressure to ensure students make adequate progress each year, and therefore, must identify students in need of intervention at early grade levels. Educators use diagnostic tools to measure student progress, attempting to determine which children may be most at risk for future reading failure. The Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) is widely used for early identification of students who have risk factors. This study incorporated a quantitative, correlational, ex post facto design to examine the relationship between students’ third grade scores on the spring DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) assessment and their fifth grade …

An Embedded Case Study Of The Proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Statute & The Proposed Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Statute, James Vines

All Dissertations

The purpose of this explanatory, embedded case study was to understand why the proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention statute and the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment statute did not passed. The data for the study was conducted through direct observations of congressional committee hearings, document analysis and open-ended interviews. The proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention statute addresses cyberbullying by imposing criminal sanctions. The proposed Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Statute seeks to provide federal grants to institutions of higher education to implement anti-harassment programs. The findings revealed that vague terminology, language dealing with LGBT people and sexual orientation as well …

2015 May, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for May of 2015.

A Promise Kept In El Dorado? An Evaluation Of The Impact Of A Universal, Place-Based College Scholarship On K-12 Achievement And High School Graduation, Jennifer W. Ash

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The El Dorado Promise is a scholarship program that provides approximately $7,818 per year toward college tuition - for up to five years - to public high school graduates in El Dorado, Arkansas who have attended El Dorado schools since at least the ninth grade. The program was announced in January 2007, and students were able to use the college scholarships in the fall of 2007. School leaders in El Dorado hoped that the enhanced access to college would increase student interest, engagement, and achievement throughout the school district. In this study, I use one-to-one student-level matching to estimate the …

Negative Impacts Of Teacher Evaluation Reform: The Role Of Federal Policy In Student Achievement And Teacher Quality, Allison Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this sequential transformative study was to elucidate the negative experiences of teachers with performance evaluations and to juxtapose the intended use of current popular teacher evaluation reform movements to the evident implementation. One may quickly assume that negative experiences with evaluation are a result of unsatisfactory teaching practices. However, this may not accurately explain the negative experiences. This study focused on the negative experience of teacher evaluation to provide a broader understanding of the impact of new evaluation policy reform on student achievement and teacher quality. Five data sources were analyzed: PAR policy, a teacher survey, district …

Comparing Schools: From Value Added To Sound Policy, Jeffery Richmond Dean

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last twenty years, value added measures (VAMs) have proliferated in education research and policy. Whether applied to teachers, schools, or districts, VAMs have attempted to measure the contribution made by a unit of interest toward observed student outcomes, typically test scores in literacy and math. At the same time, a small number of states have developed methods to formally compare schools on those outcomes, and such methods may be used and intended in ways that qualify them as a kind of VAM. My primary interest is to evaluate the properties of a similar schools model I develop in …

The Impact Of Latino Growth On Educational Institutions In Northwest Arkansas From 1990- 2010: Two Decades Of Change In Curriculum Design, Educational Resources And Services For Latino Students, Aíxa García Mont

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the changing demographics nationwide of Latinos moving from urban traditional

settlements sites to non-traditional settlement sites such as Arkansas (Pew Hispanic Research Group, 2013; Smith, 2014; Smith and Furuseth, 2005) Arkansas is now part of the new south or El Nuevo South (Smith and Furuseth, 2005). Although Arkansas is a non-traditional receiving state it is one of the states with the largest growing Latino population (Pew Hispanic Research Group, 2013). Northwest Arkansas in particular has the largest concentration of Latinos to date with the area being host to some of the largest companies in the United States, such as …

Civic Meanings: Understanding The Constellations Of Democratic And Civic Beliefs Of Educators, Elizabeth A. Lowham, James R. Lowham

Democracy & Education

There is little doubt of public school’s role in the enculturation of youth into American democracy. There are several aspects about which little is known that should be addressed prior to seeking options to understand and address civic education for the 21st century: first, the desired civic knowledge, skills, and predispositions are not clearly identified; and second, little is known about the knowledge, skills, and beliefs of the faculty, administration, staff and board of education members about democracy or the patterns of congruence among adults connected to K–12 education. In this pilot study, we investigate the patterns of beliefs through …

Teacher Survey: Common Core Standards, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-12 English language arts (ELA) and mathematics were adopted by the Arkansas State Board of Education in July 2010. Teachers have been implementing CCSS in their classrooms for several years, and this spring students across the state are being assessed on CCSS through the PARCC assessments. In February 2015, Governor Hutchinson announced the formation of a Council on Common Core Review, and the Office for Education Policy began a survey of Arkansas public school teachers to gather their opinions on this important topic. In this brief, we will share the preliminary findings from …

Fealess Friday: Kelsey Chapman, Christina L. Bassler

SURGE

Kelsey Chapman ’15 fearlessly advocates for human rights, peace, and justice, focusing on the Middle East. An economics major and Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS) minor, Kelsey is the house leader for the MEIS House, an Arabic PLA, and the founder of Gettysburg’s chapter of J Street U. [excerpt]

One Bonner Leader's Experience: Csb Campus Ministry Spirituality And Social Justice, Jamie L. Mccarthy

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

This poster describes the programming and projects I was involved with as a Bonner Leader, including lectures and panels like "ISIS: What You Need to Know" and "Two Women's Stories: The Long Journey from Drugs and Prostitution to Healing and New Life" and activities like the Alternative Gift Sale, Justice Walking, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, Earth Day Urban Plunge, and World AIDS Day.

2015 Legislative Summary, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The 90th General Assembly opened its Regular Session on January 12 and recessed on April 9. Meetings of the House and Senate education committees were usually standing room only for discussions of a broad range of bills on early childhood, K-12, and higher education issues. The purpose of this policy brief is to review the K-12 bills that garnered the most attention and have been signed into law by firstterm Governor Asa Hutchinson. These highlights are organized into several categories as shown in This Brief

Grading Arkansas’ Schools, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Report Cards for Arkansas schools released by the Arkansas Department of Education contain valuable information for stakeholders. As in past years, the report cards outline student demographics and academic achievement, as well as rates of attendance, graduation, dropout, grade inflation and college remediation. Report cards also contain information on teacher quality and school environment indicators. There are a few new pieces of information provided this year, specifically a school rating which assigns a letter grade to schools.

University Of Nebraska Board Of Regents Policies, Contains Amendments Through April 10, 2015, University Of Nebraska Board Of Regents

University of Nebraska Board of Regents: Policies, Acts, and Other Materials

First section:

RP-1.1.1 Direct Responsibilities of the Board Under the constitution and statutes of the State of Nebraska, the Board of Regents has the authority and the responsibility for the general government of the University of Nebraska. It must exercise general supervision over all elements of the University and control and direction of all expenditures and establish the general operating policies of the institution. To assist it in the discharge of its responsibilities, the Board of Regents employs a staff and faculty who have the professional competence to develop and operate the University's programs. The Board delegates, through its Bylaws …

Experiences, Perceived Challenges, And Support Systems Of Early College High School Students, Karen P. Sáenz, Julie P. Combs

Administrative Issues Journal

In this qualitative study, the prior experiences, perceived challenges, and support systems of 17 Grade 12 Hispanic students at an early college high school were explored using the framework of social capital theory. Utilizing Moustakas’s phenomenological design, data were collected using focus group and individuals interviews. Several themes emerged and were related to the conceptual framework of social capital, such as the school environment, support from family and teachers, and the students’ identify and values. Understanding the experiences of the Grade 12 students can provide valuable information for high school and college administrators in an ECHS setting.

Broadband Access In Arkansas Schools, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

With the computer-based Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) test, the Arkansas Digital Learning Act, and Governor Hutchinson’s efforts to increase participation in computer science courses, the Arkansas Legislature is discussing actions to take in order to close the “digital divide” in the state. This brief will explore the technological requirements of providing the recommended bandwidth to schools, the barriers to the provision of that service, and potential steps for the Arkansas Department of Education to take in order to ensure that every Arkansas student has fast, consistent access to the Internet to support their learning.

Faculty Observables And Self-Reported Responsiveness To Academic Dishonesty, Robert T. Burrus, Jr., Adam T. Jones, William H. Sackley, Michael Walker

Administrative Issues Journal

Prior to 2009, a mid-sized public institution in the southeast had a faculty-driven honor policy characterized by little education about the policy and no tracking of repeat offenders. An updated code, implemented in August of 2009, required that students sign an honor pledge, created a formal student honor board, and developed a process to track and hold accountable, repeat offenders. Self-reported data on faculty vigilance to detect and punish cheating is collected both prior to and after a change in the honor code at a mid-sized public institution in the southeast. We find that, at the time of the first …

The Complementary Effects Of Empathy And Nonverbal Communication Training On Persuasion Capabilities, Robin T. Peterson, James M. Leonhardt

Administrative Issues Journal

This paper investigates the possible complementary effects that training in empathy and nonverbal communication may have on persuasion capabilities. The narrative considers implications from the literature and describes an exploratory study in which students, in a managerial setting, were trained in empathy and nonverbal communication. Subsequent evaluations of these students by faculty evaluators and the students themselves provide preliminary evidence that training in empathy, on the one hand, and nonverbal communication on the other can be effective, but concurrent training in both of these is superior to concentration in only one. This is the first research report which deals with …